Squinoa Mini's
by Niqsta
Summary: A series of one-shots centred around Squall and Rinoa's relationship. AU and post-game, lots of fluff!
1. Salt

**So i thought i'd try my hand at a one-shot. Depending on how this update goes, more will come to follow. I'm going to use this as a series of one-shots on Squinoa both AU and Post-Game.**

**Dont worry, this hasnt "shrunk my responsibilities on my other stories". :)**

**This idea was inspired by an older friend of mine, who got home from work and entered upon her husband in the kitchen...**

* * *

**Salt**

Rinoa waved to Ma Dincht as she left the older woman's house and wobbled her way to her own modest accommodation. She had gone over to Zell's house during lunch time to help the woman with any errands around the house, as she, being more or less home bound, was suffocating with boredom.

She had spent the entire time at the Dincht's residence peeling potatoes, learning how to knit socks and even helped clean Ma Dincht's silverware. The time spent was a lot more enjoyable than sitting with her legs propped up in front of the TV watching daytime soap operas.

She was in her third trimester, seven and a half months into her pregnancy and as time went by she felt her bump getting bigger and bigger. At first she had thought she was expecting twins, but a trip to the doctor and a scan told her she was only carrying just the one of a mini Squall.  
The size just seemed big to her, having never been pregnant before and having such a slender body. But as she looked at her hands and felt the bottom of her chin, Rinoa knew she was not the baby blue duster wearing teen she was when she had first met Squall. Now she was the twenty pound heavier, maternity jeans wearing, young adult married to the now less anti-social lone wolf.

Her experiences with her pregnancy were all new to her, she had tried to read books from the Garden library on stages of pregnancy and what to look out for, though not all books were helpful.

"Every woman is different, you cant write a manual on pregnancy." Ma Dincht had said to her that afternoon.

Recently, Rinoa had developed a strong craving for anything salty. Anything with masses of salt were her liking, pretzels, crisps, melted cheese, though the latter made her feel sick afterwards, salted peanuts and so on. Even on her meals, she'd sprinkle masses of salt on it. She had been told off by Ma Dincht that afternoon as she nearly emptied half the salt shaker on her grilled fish. "An awful amount of salt is never too good for your blood pressure, nor your baby's."

But Rinoa couldn't help it. Whenever she was hungry, she craved the bitter taste of salty food in her mouth, just thinking about it sent her salivating.

As she walked the cobble stones of Balamb Town, she approached her house and took out her keys from her purse. The front window was open and the lights were turned on, indicating Squall's arrival.

Although Rinoa was a lot more accustomed to living in a big house, with wide rooms and plenty of storage, she was very happy with the small terraced house she and Squall purchased. One of the benefits of living in Balamb's town was that Squall was only a few minutes away in Garden, should she need his help.

Stepping into the house she wiped her feet and kicked her shoes off.

"Rin, that you?" Squall asked from the kitchen.

"Yep." She replied back and attempted to take her jacket off.

Squall walked up to the small passage way that separated the kitchen and the lounge. Walking up to her he planted a small kiss on her lips and asked how her day was.

"Good, learnt a lot from Ma Dincht." She replied back after hanging up her jacket. "Something smells nice." She commented as she made her way to the lounge.

"I got home early so thought I'd make dinner for a change." He replied, watching her as she slowly lowered herself onto the couch and positioned cushions behind her.

Walking up to her, he took her legs and propped her feet up on to the coffee table.

"Thank you." She replied smiling at him. She had thought she'd see even less of Squall now that she wasn't living in Garden, she had considered the fact that, given the amount of work Squall put into Garden, he'd be too preoccupied to hold her hand through her pregnancy.

But she was wrong, and happy that she had been. He had attended all her doctor's appointments, every scan and even made sure he was home before she retired to bed to give her a foot rub.

She knew a part of him did it because he didn't want his own children growing up without a father, like he had. She also knew he did it because he loved her and wouldn't allow her to go through it alone. Whatever the reason, she was happy he was there side by side, her knight in shining leather clothing.

"Can I get you anything?" Squall asked, looking at Rinoa expectantly.

"Yes please." She said slightly out of breath. "A really, really, really cold, freezing glass of water and anything with salt in it." She asked expressively as the familiar taste of salt came to her tongue.

Squall nodded and walked back to the small kitchen at the front of the house.

Leaning her head back against the top of the couch, Rinoa made small conversation with Squall.

"How's everything in Garden." She asked, closing her eyes and letting the smell of the aromatic spices seeping from the kitchen fill her nose. She craved now more than anything to rush into the kitchen, and take out whatever Squall had in the oven, and chomp straight into it.

"The usual, I think Quistis is contemplating Instructorship again." Squall's reply came back.

She heard his footsteps approach and place her wanted items on the small coffee table.

Leaning down he kissed her forehead, causing her eyes to open slowly and smile at him.

Looking down at the coffee table, Rinoa could see the condensation already gather on the glass drinking cup, it made her mouth feel dry just looking at it. Taking a gulp of water she noticed the small pointed salt shaker sitting quietly on the coffee table.

She looked at Squall with both a smirk and questioning look.

"What?" He asked blinking.

"What's that?" She asked pointing to the salt shaker.

"You said to bring you a cold glass of water and anything with salt in it." He replied, repeating her earlier words.

It took her a second for her to process what Squall had said, and how he had interpreted her words.

Letting a chuckle escape from her mouth, she placed the water down on the table and took his arm. Pulling him down to her level she planted a kiss on his lips.

She sure wasn't the baby blue duster wearing teen he had met a couple of years ago, but he was still the Squall she had met, and she wouldn't change him for the world.

**

* * *

**

Aww.

More to come hopefully, that is if you guys liked it. ^^


	2. Revision

**So, I had this idea of Squall and Rinoa 'revising' together. This is kinda a two-part one-shot. The second one will be called Exam, I haven't written it yet, but I have it in my head.**

**Well enjoy.**

**

* * *

**

Revision

Saturday

Squall sat at his desk, his pencil poised in midair as he read through the current chapter in his History Textbook. Once getting the gist of the chapter he quickly scribbled into his notepad, marking distinct dates and names of the Galbadian Presidents.

His cell phone went off breaking his concentration. Getting off his desk he walked over to his bed and moved aside his pillow. Picking up his phone he looked at the caller ID before answering.

"Yeah?" He spoke softly.

"Hey Squall!" Rinoa's cheerful voice boomed from the other side. "What are you doing today?"

"I'm revising for the History test we have on Monday." He answered quickly, hoping to quickly return to his work.

"Oh, how boring, I did all my revision before. So you want to come over?" Rinoa asked temptingly.

"No, not today, I'm going to keep revising." He answered as he made his way to his desk and sat down again.

"Oh, well why don't you bring your stuff over and we'll revise together?" She asked sweetly.

"Rinoa, the last time I revised with you was for the Geography test, which you spent most of the time drawing and talking about how mean the blonde girl in the library was to you."

"Hey! I got a B- for that test." She countered.

"Exactly." Squall replied his point well made.

"A B- is an alright grade." Rinoa argued.

"Yeah its alright, but an A is better." Squall replied. "I gotta go, bye."

"Meanie." Rinoa sulked a bit longer.

"Bye." Squall attempted again.

"Bye." Rinoa sadly replied before hanging up.

Sunday

_President Deling was inaugurated on the 8th__ of February- _DING DONG!

Squall looked up from his textbook at the sound of the doorbell.

Walking over to his window he peeped outside and found Rinoa standing outside, swaying from her toes to her heels. He had a milisecond to duck and pretend he wasn't at home, but the raven haired looked up and waved at him. _Too late._ He thought to himself as he trugged downstairs and let her in.

"Hey, Squall!" Rinoa beamed walking in and hugging the brunette.

"I was revising." Squall stated without any greetings… or etiquettes.

"Still?" Rinoa asked surprised. "Boy, you're making this test out to be really important."

"It is, it's twenty per cent towards our final mark." Squall replied walking up the stairs to his bedroom.

Rinoa skipped along following him in and plopping herself messily on his neatly made bed.

"Don't you want to take a break?" She asked already bored.

"Yeah, tomorrow after the test."

Rinoa rolled her eyes and flatted her back against him mattress.

_Three years into President Hatake's leadership, Galbadia joined alliances with Centra on March 3__rd__, ending the conflict of-_

"Squall, I'm hungry." Rinoa interrupted Squall's reading.

Squall looked over at his girlfriend standing next to him playing with his stationary. He liked having Rinoa round, sometimes, but now she was distracting him from his work.

"There should be food downstairs, go help yourself." He replied in monotone.

"Do you want something?" She asked not moving from her position.

"No." He replied.

"I can make you a sandwich?"

"No, I ate lunch already."

"Do you want a drink?" She tempted.

"Nope."

"I can make you some fruit salad." She suggested.

"Rinoa, I'm fine, just go fend for yourself." He replied slightly irritated.

Disheartened, Rinoa left his room and skipped down the stairs making her way into the kitchen to look for snacks.

_During the Obel Lake - _SLAM - _take over - _SWOOSH - _official leaders had no option - _SLAM - _but to allow residents - _CRREEEAK _- to settle in other areas - _SLAM _- of the Galbadian Province - _SLAM!

"Argh!" Squall moaned taking his eyes off his book and looking at his open door. _What is she doing down there?_

Getting off his seat he made his way downstairs to find Rinoa opening and closing every draw and pantry closet looking for God knew what.

"What are you doing?" He asked walking in and closing the draw she held open.

"Looking for snacks." She replied sweetly.

"What, in the cutlery draw?" He asked sarcastically.

Squall made his way to the pantry and pulled out a large packet of potato chips and a crispy treat, handing them to Rinoa he pulled out a can of drink from the fridge and passed it to her before running back to his room.

Sitting back down at his desk he began to read through his textbook.

While reading Rinoa slowly crept in and sat on his bed with her food. Trying as quietly as she could, she opened up the chip bag and started eating. She didn't want Squall to kick her out, but she was just so bored with him so into his work.

_The most reputable Generals in Galbadian history are three - _CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH_ - Peter Sailsberg, George - _CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH_ - Henley, and the most recent - _SLUURRRRP_ - Fury Caraway._

_The Dollet Communication Tower was invaded by - _CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH_ - Tower was invaded - _CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH _- was invaded by - _SLUUURRPP!

"_Rinoa!_" Squall's thoughts cried as he looked over at the raven haired sitting on his bed staring into space, while automatically putting chips into her mouth. She had some sixth sense then and looked to find him staring at her.

"What?" She asked innocently.

"Can't you chew quietly?" He asked almost regretting giving her the bag of potato chips.

"I'm done." She retorted and put her food away.

Squall exhaled and went back to reading.

Rinoa rolled her eyes and exhaled herself. She was idle again and looked around Squall's bedroom to find something to occupy her.

He had his desk all neatly tidied with the exception of his current books in usage. His clothes were all kept inside his draws without a spare sock on the floor.

To one side of the room Rinoa spotted Squall's videogame collection all put into a CD rack, and decided she'd like to go through them.

Walking over to the videogames she knelt down and started sifting through them. There were many classics among them, from PlayStation One games to the more recent ones for the PS3.

Squall was reading quietly when he noticed Rinoa walk past him towards one corner of his room. He figured she was going to look out the window as she normally did sometimes.

_Shelly Weybridge was the niece of Amy Caraway, the latter who was due to marry Lieutenant Heatherfield after the Obel Lake invasion. Weybridge was at first working under the Home Office before working her way up the - _CRASH!

Squall's head flipped behind him to find Rinoa, red handed, hovering above his now collapsed games collection.

"Sorry!" She quickly started speaking before he kicked her out. "One of the games was stuck and I tried getting it out but…"

Squall casually made his way over to her, took the game from her hands and placed it on his desk.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm not spending enough time with you." He smiled at her.

"You're not?" She asked surprised.

"No, come on, lets get some air and do something fun." He suggested putting his arm around her and walking her out of his room.

"Ok!" Rinoa quickly agreed kissing him on the cheek.

As they made their way to the front door, Squall held it open for Rinoa to head out first. Once she was fully out the door, he slammed it shut and bolted it with the safety lock.

"Squall?" Rinoa loudly cried from the other side. "Squall!"

Running back to his room, Squall closed his window and locked it, now only faintly hearing Rinoa's pleas to let her back in.

**

* * *

**

I couldn't end this any other way, Squall is just too serious about education and work to have 'fun' before a test. Hope you liked it. The Exam will follow soon... hopefully.

**R&R!**


	3. Exam

**Revision for Squall is over and it's time for the test. **

**This is the second part to Revision, both of which are AUs.**

**

* * *

**

Exam

Monday

Monday morning and students were making their way into school, some loitering around hallways to talk to friends, others getting books out of their locker. One student however, was already waiting first in line outside the History class door, anxious to get in and get on with the test.

The History teacher made his way from the stairs, down to the end of the hallway and up to his classroom door.

"Morning, Squall." He greeted the lone wolf.

"Morning." Squall inaudibly replied with a bored expression.

The keys turned and door opened, the teacher made his way in followed by the hasty brunette.

Squall walked over to his usual desk and began taking his equipment out, placing his pen, pencil, eraser and ruler neatly to one side of the table and leaving his A4 notepad on the other. Easing himself down effortlessly, Squall straightened his seat and took off his jacket, letting it rest on the back of his chair.

Within two minutes the bell rang and the rest of the students made their way in noisily, disrupting and cheating Squall of his last minute revision.

The teacher made his way over to the door, ready to close it when Rinoa quickly jumped in, an apology followed as quick as her stride.

"Quickly, Miss Heartilly." The teacher advised before shutting the door.

Making her way over to her seat, Rinoa made a quick stop by Squall, planting a small peck on his cheek. The brunette smiled at her and followed her body till she made it to her seat, just diagonally across from him.

"Ok, you all know today is the end of unit test, it's twenty per cent towards your final grade. I hope you've all revised, you'll need it, this test is very hard." The teacher truthfully spoke and began handing out the question sheets. "Alright, when I say, you can turn your papers over."

Squall quickly popped the lid of his pen open and poised it in midair ready for the teacher's go ahead.

"You may start." The teacher finally said and the rustling of papers was all that could be heard for the next five seconds.

There are many examination techniques and methods to answering exams which are more or less based on ability and preferences. Squall much liked to read all the questions on the paper, circling the ones he knew for sure and putting a question mark near the ones he didn't, before he began to answer them.

Done with his reading, Squall turned to a fresh page of his notebook and started to answer his paper.

The classroom was quiet during the time of the exam, everyone with their head down scribbling away. Some were unfortunate and spent a couple minutes gazing around the room and envying the ones more knowledgeable than them.

Squall however, was completely oblivious to all of it, during the start to end of his paper, he had his head down until he answer every single question.

Finally, after forty minutes of writing and happy with all his attempted answers, Squall put his pen down and closed his paper. Now he looked around the room, at the students that still had their heads bent, and those that found something other to stare at.

Gently, he moved his head to the right, seeking a peek at Rinoa. Her eyes were fixated on her paper, her face twisted with confusion, her forehead creased. Using the tip of her pen, she scratched the side of her head before answering the question she was currently reading.

He felt some sympathy for her at that moment, but that was importance of revision. You couldn't expect to get good grades if you didn't know the material. Sometimes, people had to learn the hard way.

"Ok, pens down, test is over." The teacher announced and instructed the papers to be handed down. "I'll mark these tonight and give your grades tomorrow before lunch."

The bell went off again indicating the end of the lesson and the students began to gather their belongings, making their way to their next class.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Rinoa asked walking up to Squall.

"Pretty good, I think I got most of them right." He replied, taking hold of her hand and walking out of the classroom. "What about you?"

"Yeah, same. I think I got most of them right." She repeated. Though Squall wasn't so sure given her facial expression during the test.

* * *

Tuesday

The bell had gone off indicating the start of Lunch break when the students had packed up their books and headed to the front of the class to receive their papers.

Some students were happy with their grades, others not to much and quickly stuffed the cursed exam paper into their bag and hurried away from their peers.

Rinoa took her paper from the teacher and made her way out of the hustle and bustle of the classroom and waited for Squall in the corridor.

Making his way to the teacher, Squall was finally awarded his paper and began to read it while slowly making his way out of the classroom.

He had been correct, he had answered most of the paper correctly, scoring a 92%. Smiling to himself, he was happy he hadn't given into Rinoa's attempts the day before.

Now out of the classroom, he spotted Rinoa to once corner looking at her exam paper with a slight frown.

"Hey," He approached her, "how'd you do?" He asked wanting to hear the gory details behind her frown.

"Alright, I think I messed up a bit on question seven. He wrote; 'A good answer, would have awarded full marks if you elaborated more.' Gosh, how much can you write during a fifty minute exam?" Rinoa cheerfully complained.

"Oh well, it's twenty per cent, there's always re-sits in January." Squall tried being compassionate.

"Uh-huh. So how did you do Mr I'll-take-a-break-after-the-test." Rinoa teased.

"Ok, got most of them correct." Squall modestly replied.

"Oh yeah? How much?"

"Ninety-two per cent." Squall smirked. He felt a bit guilty telling her the results, he didn't want her to get upset over not doing as well as he had. Not that Rinoa sulked over such a thing.

"Oh Squall! That's great, all your revision paid off."

Squall smiled and began making his way down to the cafeteria. Rinoa followed him quietly, placing her exam paper into her bag. It was then that curiosity seeped into the brunette and he wanted to know exactly how bad Rinoa did.

"So, what per cent did you get?" He finally asked as they got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh, not far from what you got." She answered trying to dismiss the question.

"How much?" He asked.

"Squall, I don't want to say, I feel uncomfortable."

"I won't laugh." He replied.

"Laugh? Squall do you think I flunked?" She asked surprised.

"No, I just… I mean, it was a pretty hard test and you did look confused at one point." He tried justifying his answer.

Taking her paper out of her bag she presented it to him with her mark displayed.

"Squall, I got a ninety-eight." She stated.

And right there in red ink was a 98% mark with the caption 'Excellent' from the teacher. The two marks that had been taken off were for question seven where she hadn't elaborated.

"What! How did you get a ninety-eight without revising?" Squall asked in shock and disbelief… and just the hint of jealousy.

"I didn't need to." She replied.

"What do you mean you didn't need to?" He asked at the absurdity. Surely, everyone has to revise.

"Squall, aren't you forgetting something?" She asked him with a stupid look. He just looked at her with a lost look, waiting for her to continue. "It was a test on the History of Galbadia. I'm Galbadian, my father is the General of Galbadia, don't you think I sit through enough history lessons during dinner?"

Squall just sifted through Rinoa's paper, looking at all the little red ticks and listening to her reasoning.

"Like, the question on Deling's Presidency, you put down the 8th of February, didn't you?" She asked matter-of-factly.

Squall nodded, to which she continued.

"Wrong. That's when he was inaugurated. Deling's presidency actually started four months prior to that on the 17th of October when President Jugo was assassinated and he had to take over." She replied before continuing with more. "Then the question about Shelly Weybridge, she's actually my second cousin. Her aunt is my aunt Amy Caraway."

Squall folded Rinoa's paper back to normal and stared at the 98% mark circled in red.

"Then there's the question on Galbadia and Centra's alliance, that was on my birthday." Rinoa smiled gleefully. "Oh and the question on…"

As Rinoa went on about Galbadia's history, Squall's face went through a series of emotions. From shock, to realisation, envy and hatred. It was no wonder she got the grade that she did. But Squall couldn't help but come to one point.

"So you knew all these answers and yet instead of helping me revise, you came over to my house and messed around?" Squall cried with agitation.

Rinoa couldn't help but look guilty.

"Well, Squall it's not my fault. I asked you if you wanted to revise and you said no. Besides, you have your own revision techniques and you looked like you were doing pretty well. And anyways, there's always re-sits in January." Rinoa tried comforting the brunette who could only look at her with venom. "Squall? Squall, why are you looking at me like that and why on earth are you taking your belt off?" Rinoa asked with a look of bewilderment.

"Rinoa," Squall calmly stated getting the hook of his belt off and slipping it off from around his waist, "if you value our relationship at all, you'll take advantage of the ten seconds head start I'm going to give you."

Rinoa just looked at him with wide eyes. "Squall!"

"One."

"Squall, it's just a test." She stated.

"Two."

"Aren't you being a bit irrational?" She insisted.

"Nine."

"Wait that's not fair, that's not ten seconds!" Rinoa cried, breaking into a run.

"Ten!" Squall shouted before running after her.

**

* * *

**

Once again, I can't end this without some humour. This couple really does give me laughs.

**I know Squall is a bit OOC at the end, but oh well. R&R!**

**Oh btw, I have another one-shot already written and uploaded before I wrote this one. I wanted to post this one before so it can be read straight after Revision. So, review and i'll get the next one posted. ^.^**


	4. Allergy

**So my brother-in-law made this prawn curry and insisted my sister try it, my sister who is allergic to prawns. She said no at first, but then he kept going on about how yummy it was, so she tried it in the end and well... it didnt go down so well, literally. He felt so guilty afterwards.**

**This is post-game, and can be taken place before Salt.**

**

* * *

**

Allergy

"Mmm, Squall these prawns are so succulent." Rinoa emphatically moaned while forking in another mouthful of the prawn curry she had made that evening.

"Hm, you said." Squall replied back just finishing off his own plate of plain white rice and mild chicken curry.

"Are you sure you don't want to try some?" The raven haired tempted him by taking another bite of the juicy king prawns.

Squall looked longingly at the pinkness of Rinoa's lips savouring every bite of the tender meatiness of the pawn.

"No… I'm allergic remember?" He dully reminded her.

Her throat made a sorrowful recognition of his allergies before swallowing her next bite. Squall made his way over to the sink basin and started washing up his plate. Behind him Rinoa continued their earlier conversation.

"So you think Seifer has the guts to ask Quistis out?" She paused from her food and awaited Squall's reaction to the current situation between the said people.

Squall didn't act bothered by the situation, truth was he wasn't. He couldn't care less if Seifer suddenly came to his senses and realised Quistis was the 'one' all this time. It was their business and his thoughts didn't mean a thing.

"I don't know." He replied back without much enthusiasm.

"Well, I think it would be a good thing if they did get together. Quistis can be intimidating sometimes, you know." Rinoa replied back while helping herself to another spoonful of the prawn curry.

"How so?" Squall asked sitting back down next to his wife.

"Well, she's gorgeous, smart and single. What guy wouldn't want to date her?" She replied, not making eye contact with the brunette and keeping her eyes firmly planted on her plate.

"True. But this guy already has a gorgeous, smart wife, so she needn't feel intimidated." He whispered before lifting her chin to place a small kiss.

Rinoa's face instantly brightened at the kiss. Squall knew she felt some jealousy when it came to his relationship with Quistis. The first few months they became a couple was tough, and whenever she sought advice Quistis knew Squall better than most. It had eventually made the raven haired jealous that someone other than her knew Squall better.

Squall always made sure to make Rinoa feel that she knew him the most, and the truth was she did, she just didn't realise it. He had never loved before, and he had chosen Rinoa out of all the other prospective women in his life to give her his heart.

"Are you sure you don't want to try some?" Rinoa asked holding up her fork to Squall.

"Hmm." Squall was already contemplating.

"I'll just give you some rice with the gravy, that way you at least know the taste." Rinoa explained while getting a forkful ready.

Bringing it up to Squall's mouth she easily fed him the spicy treat and waited his judgement.

"Good." Squall complimented after swallowing his mouthful.

"And you're still alive?" She asked teasingly.

"I'll let you know in a couple of minutes." He subtly joked.

Rinoa smiled back before continuing with her food.

"Oh I bumped into Selphie today." She exclaimed while starting another conversation. "She's heading off to Trabia for three weeks to see her friend."

Squall nodded while recollecting the image of a medium length brunette-head he had met during the Trabia bombing.

"Irvine going with her?" He asked, feeling obliged to take part in the conversation.

"No, she doesn't want him flirting with her friend." Rinoa responded while holding up another forkful for Squall to take.

"Its got a prawn in it." He stated while moving his head back.

"I know, but it's a small one." She replied still holding onto the fork. "Just chew it slowly, and if you feel ill just spit it out." She advised him encouragingly.

He was hesitant at first, but seeing Rinoa's pouting pink lips smacking against each other from the spicy taste was overly tempting.

He knelt his head and took the bite, carefully chewing slowly at the tender meat. She had been right, it was succulent and juicy and all the more heavenly than the bite he had taken before.

"Irvine will find a way to flirt with her friend some how. Even if he isn't in Trabia." Rinoa continued.

Gulping down water, Squall took his reading book off the kitchen table and walked over to the couch in the next room.

Rinoa continued talking for the next twenty seconds about Selphie and Irvine's weird relationship, before turning around to see Squall's contorted face.

Squall frowned at the feeling at his throat, the glands in his throat started closing in and his tongue started to feel twice its size. He could feel his chest heave on impulse and he readied himself for the impact.

"Squall, are you ok?" Rinoa uttered just as Squall bolted from his chair and ran for the waste bin.

Hurling into the bin he let out the entire contents in his stomach. Rinoa was immediately at his side rubbing his back in a panic.

"Oh Squall, it was such a tiny prawn I didn't know it could do this." She tried excusing herself.

"It's fine." Squall finally breathed after a pause.

"It's not Squall, I didn't know it was this bad, I thought a tiny small prawn couldn't cause any harm." Rinoa cried in distress, her face guilty and shocked.

"Rinoa, I'll be ok." Squall croaked spitting the last bit of chewed up food out and reading himself again for any future vomiting.

"No Squall, you don't understand. If anything happened to you, your death would be on my hands. You could have died because you wanted to please me. How could I live with myself knowing I fed you that prawn?"

Squall looked at Rinoa closely and repeated her words in his head a couple of times before replying.

"Rinoa, it's nice to know that in the event of my death, the first thing you'll be thinking about is how it affects you." He finally replied before hurling into the waste bin again.

**

* * *

**

Yeah so that's kinda how it went. I know I changed the genders around, but I don't see Squall tempting Rinoa into eating something she is allergic to. Hehe.


	5. Lazy

**I had this funny idea come to mind, thinking back to playing certain parts of FF8 and realising that maybe the characters are just lazy. They're just my opinions, nothing factual.**

**Post-game, enjoy.**

**

* * *

**

Lazy

"Squall, can you do the vacuum?" Rinoa asked as she carried a load of dirty laundry into the kitchen.

"Yeah, sure." Squall replied, yet not moving from his computer desk.

Halfway through putting the laundry into the washing machine Rinoa popped her head through the kitchen door to see Squall still sitting on his chair, his gaze fixated on the computer screen.

"Squall, the vacuuming?" She reminded him.

"Yeah Rin, I'll do it in a bit." He replied in monotone. However he still didn't move.

"Did you remember to walk Angelo?" She asked while shoving in more washing.

"No, later." He replied.

* * *

Half an hour late, a tired Rinoa returned downstairs with the Hoover and packed it away in the closet under the stairs. Walking into the living room she found Squall still sitting at the computer.

"Squall, will you help me hang the washing?" She asked standing at the doorway, idly scratching her arm.

"Yeah." He said, but still didn't move.

"Ok, well I'm going to take it out into the garden, hurry up and come." She instructed and made her way into the kitchen to collect the freshly cleaned clothes.

Carrying the heavy load of washing, Rinoa made her way to the back of the living room and opened the back door leading to the garden. Now dragging the basket of clean clothes, she picked up the pegs from the small patio table and started hanging the big white bed sheets.

It wasn't until she got down to hanging Squall's boxer shorts did she realise that the brunette still hadn't come to help.

"Squall!" She yelled for him from outside.

"Hm?" Was his reply.

"You coming to help?" She asked.

"Yeah, in a bit." He replied, his famous answer.

Mumbling to herself in annoyance, Rinoa continued hanging the rest of the washing.

Realising that Squall wasn't going to get up any time soon, Rinoa continued to work through her chores by herself, cleaning the bathroom, tidying the shoe rack and even mopping the kitchen floor. Squall was far too busy sitting at his computer doing God knew what.

* * *

It was when the two were ready to retire to bed that Rinoa remembered she had forgotten to bring in the washing from outside. Now dark and quiet outside, she rather preferred not to go by herself and happen to stumble upon unexpected, and unwanted, visitors in the garden.

"Oh Squall!" She moaned from her side of the bed, getting up into a sitting position.

Squall was barely getting into bed himself when he turned to her plea.

"I left the washing out." She told him annoyed at herself.

"Ah." Squall just moaned, tired and not wanting to leave the warmth of the bed he had just gotten into. "Just get it tomorrow."

"No." She replied, eyes wide. "What if a fox comes and pulls the sheets down? What if a bird is flying by and poops on the clothes?" She argued.

"Oh, Rinoa." Squall rolled his eyes. "I'm tired and I just want to sleep."

That's when it kicked off.

"You're tired?" She exclaimed looking at him in awe. "I did the washing, the hanging, the vacuuming, the tidying and you're tired?"

"Hey, I was doing work too." He rebutted.

"You sat on a computer all day. I was running around and cleaning. Look, I have rough hands from all the hard work I did." She pulled her hands out in front of him to inspect.

"Doesn't matter whether it was on a computer or not, I still worked." Squall retorted not giving in.

"You're just lazy." Rinoa remarked eyeing him disappointedly.

"Me?" Squall asked, surprised by her honest opinion.

"Yes, you."

"You're the lazy one. Don't think Zone didn't tell me all about your laziness when you were with the Forest Owls." He challenged her.

Rinoa looked at him sceptically. "What are you talking about?" She asked folding her arms in front of her chest in defence.

"Well, let's see. You were too lazy to pack and carry anything with you when you left Deling, so you claimed you ran away, when really your Dad knew you were leaving the whole time." Squall started counting on his fingers. "You can't be bothered to go through the hassle of Limit Breaks and therefore get Angelo to do your dirty work for you." He counted the second one, causing Angelo to whine at the mention of her name from the doorway.

"Whatever, that's nothing compared to what you were like when we first met." Rinoa argued getting ready to counter.

"Yeah right." Squall replied leaning his head against his arms. Rinoa surely couldn't have anything solid against him; he wasn't lazy, that much he knew.

"Well, what about the fact that you only ever wore your black pants and white t-shirts so you didn't have to go through the hassle of ironing." She started off causing Squall to stare surprised. Smiling, Rinoa knew she had caught onto something. "Then there's the claim that you play cards because you're the card master, when really you only play to refine them into items and magic because you're too lazy to draw magic."

Squall immediately sat up on hearing Rinoa's arguments, it seemed that the raven haired pretended not to notice these minute details. But now on closer acquaintance she seemed to have enough ammunition against the lone wolf.

"Then there's the whole No Encounters. You claimed you only equipped it to get to the secret area faster, but really you were too lazy to fight the grats." Rinoa smirked.

Squall smiled at that himself, "You never complained at the time." He whispered.

Rinoa only giggled back in reply, she hadn't complained any of the times, and honestly, she wasn't complaining now either.

"You are lazy, Squall Leonhart." She replied getting up and slipping her robe on.

"Well maybe I'm lazy because of the stuff you put me through." He argued again.

"Oh my God! Name _one thing_ I put you through." Rinoa exclaimed from the doorway, her hands at her hips, her face staring expectantly.

Squall stood up and started walking around the room, building suspense to his answer.

"Let's see, how about the time when Edea was possessed and you thought Odine's bracelet would do the trick. You ended up getting ambushed by Igunions and I had to save you." He replied, and this time Rinoa stared in unexpected surprise.

"Or during the time Balamb and Galbadia were at war, you fell off the side of Garden and I had to come save you." He continued. "Then the time when you were possessed by Ultimecia and I had to carry you all the way to Esthar."

Rinoa looked shyly down at the floor, a small smirk playing at her lips. Squall still paced the room, counting down each incident.

"Oh, and then when you finally broke from Ultimecia's possession and were stuck in space, guess who had to venture out to save your ass then? ME!"

Finally he stopped in front of her with a smile at his lips holding his index finger out.

"And the one I love the most, having to fight Adel without using my Limit Break because otherwise I would have killed your lazy ass!" He finished looking at her in wait.

Trying very hard to stop the laughter breaking away from her, Rinoa looked Squall hard in the eyes.

"I said to name one!" She answered before running off.

**

* * *

****I actually could have made this longer, i had more examples of how they could have been lazy, e.g. hiring cars from the drive to Balamb town to Balamb Garden, not allowing rules to spread because it makes Triple Triad harder, not wanting to go out in the rain so therefore making her own train cargo, just my experiences with the game :p**

**I'll admit though, strangely i found it hard to write for Squall, and i think i know who to hold responsible for that, lol. I think some hiatus is due for this fandom.**


	6. Misunderstandings

**It happens to all of us, misunderstanding someone's words, actions, sometimes even feelings.**

**This one-shot is based on misunderstandings that take place between Squall and Rinoa in the first year of their marriage/relationship.**

**Post-game, takes place before Salt and Lazy.**

* * *

**Misunderstandings**

It was quarter to nine in the evening when Rinoa parted the kitchen curtains in the newly furbished maisonette she and Squall purchased. Squall was supposed to be home nearly three hours ago but still hadn't returned from Garden. She had tried calling him on his mobile a couple of time but after a couple of rings it would go straight to voicemail. Just as she was about to pick up the phone and dial Garden's number, Squall's keys jingled at the doorway and he stumbled in.

"Where've you been?" Rinoa asked with a frown.

She could hardly see him from how dark it had gotten outside. All she could make out was the silhouette of his body against the yellow street light outside.

"Long story." Squall grumbled as he shut the door and made his way into the house.

Limping his way from the front door Squall headed straight to the kitchen and pulled out a chair. Easing himself gently he sat down and let out a moan.

"What's wrong, Squally?" Rinoa asked sensing that something was wrong with his leg.

"Please don't call me Squally." Squall answered.

She had picked up the name a couple of weeks ago, a pet name for him as Selphie had for Irvine. He was supposed to talk to her about it but kept forgetting.

Rinoa sensed some annoyance from the brunette and immediately became irritated.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked insincerely.

Squall merely looked at her in surprise, it was unusual for her to front such coldness.

"Nothing." He said defensively.

She remained silent while his eyes continued looking at her questioningly. He was wondering why she wasn't all over him asking to see what happened to his leg or smothering him with kisses and comforting hugs.

Not able to take the silence and heavily desiring the need to let him know he had upset her, she finally cracked.

"What's wrong with calling you Squally, you call me Rin." She exclaimed folding her arms and refusing to look at him. Her forehead was defined with creases as the irritation grew.

"I just don't like it. And Rin is short for Rinoa." He explained, grunting at the pain penetrating from his knee.

Rinoa was about to reply with a calmer reasoning, but misinterpreting his painful grunt to an annoyed one, only caused her irritation to increase.

"Squall, if I've done something wrong just spit it out!" She replied hotly smacking her arms to her side.

"What?" Squall looked at her.

_Not again._ He thought to himself, he gathered it must be that time of the month, normally Rinoa was upbeat and hyper, yet nothing about her scowling face showed him that she was in such a mood.

"Tell me what your problem is." She yelled a bit too loud.

"Why are you shouting?" He asked perplexed at her sudden behaviour.

"I'm not!" She squeaked.

Her eyes were wide, she couldn't understand what was going through Squall's head. Nor could she understand why he was being so mean all of a sudden.

"You are, all I said was don't call me Squally and you're going psycho." He explained.

"Don't call me psycho!" She demanded shooting him a glare.

"Well, stop overreacting." He replied and immediately regretted it.

He could see the tears already forming at the corners of her eyes. She pressed her lips together withholding any emotion from passing out. She lifted her head and looked up at the ceiling, it was a trick she had learnt to stop her tears from flowing over.

His heart softened at her sight and he beckoned for her to come over to him. She, being stubborn, refused and continued to stare at the cream coloured ceiling.

"Rinoa, come here." He leaned forward just touching the tips of her fingers and pulled at them.

Giving in, she slowly made her way to him and allowed him to set her on his lap. Minding his knee, he placed her on his right thigh and used his thumb to wipe away one of her tear-stained cheeks.

"What's wrong?" He asked cooingly.

"You're mean." She sobbed not looking him in the eye.

"Rinoa, all I said was not to call me Squally." He could help but chuckle.

"You didn't need to be so mean about it." She sniffed.

"I wasn't. I didn't mean to be anyways." He explained. "I just don't like it, it doesn't suit me."

"Yeah but its not the first time I've called you that. Then you come home today, nearly three hours late, no 'Honey, I'm home', no kisses, you didn't even tell me how pretty I look." She sulked with her head down.

Squall lifted her head and forced her to look him in the eyes. He had noticed the short red satin dress she was wearing, the gold jewellery adorning her neck and ears, the seductive way her hair was pinned back and the sweet scent of the perfume that he had given her.

"You look beautiful." He said to her and kissed the tip of her nose.

"Thank you." She replied automatically while playing with the buttons on his shirt.

"I'm sorry, Rin. I didn't mean to be late and I didn't mean to be rude either." He further explained. "I'm actually in a lot of pain right now, so that's why I probably seem so grumpy, and which is why I was so late."

Remembering him limping in only a couple of minutes ago, Rinoa looked down to Squall's other knee spread far away from her.

"Well I was going to ask why you were limping but I got distracted. What happened?" She asked, her tears and irritation now all but vanished.

"Dislocated my knee." He said blandly.

"Aww, how'd you do that?"

"How else would it happen? Training Centre." He replied. "I was fighting a T-Rex, just finishing a limit break. I landed a jump kick wrong, and the way I had my leg plus the force of me coming down, plus me being off balance equals pain."

"Serves you right." She couldn't help but comment. She giggled when he looked at her in disbelief and so kissed him lightly on his cheek for compensation.

"I am sorry Rin, for making you cry; it wasn't my intention. I'm just grumpy and in pain and I was meaning to tell you before about the whole name thing but I kind of always forgot." He said hoping she wasn't too injured.

He hadn't realised just how sensitive she was, it seemed that recently it only took a wrong blink of an eye to send her bawling like a baby.

"It's ok. But next time, just tell me nicely if you don't like something I'm doing." She answered still fiddling with his buttons. "I can't always tell if you're upset with me."

"Why would I be upset with you?" He asked curiously, it humoured him, she'd be one of the last people he'd ever be upset with.

"I don't know, I hardly see you these days now that we're not living in Garden. You come home late most of the time and don't always seem sociable." She explained.

"Well, I did say you were welcome to come and join me at Garden-"

"Squall. You know I don't agree with SeeD."

"Ok, forget that then. But Rin," He amusingly smiled at her, "I never get upset with you, so don't worry about that. Unless I literally tell you to go talk to a wall or continuously reply with 'whatever', don't ever think you've done something wrong."

Rinoa sniffed and looked at his steel blue eyes, drowing in their beauty. She smiled brightly at him.

"Ok." She agreed, her mood instantly melting into the softness of his voice.

That's all it took really, some tender loving care from Squall and Rinoa's fragile heart was instantly mended.

"I should get your dinner ready." She informed him about to get off his lap when he held her down.

"Its kind of late now." He smirked at her. "Why don't we jump straight to dessert?" He winked.

* * *

**Even though he apologised, I personally believe Squall was in the wrong. Rinoa didn't overreact, she rules. ^^ Lol, I'm only joking.**


	7. Compensation

**Ok, I'm a teetotaler so I wasn't drunk when I wrote this. Nor am I fond of lemons or any other naughtiness. I just couldn't help laughing at this idea.**

**On a serious note, *WARNING - wondering into Niqsta's personal life* I was watching something on youtube, a user I'm subbed to, and he had this drawing done of him as a Cog from GOW, and a lot of people were making stupid comments about 'compensating'. Which is seriously dumb. That caused me to go ahead with this idea. *cringe***

**

* * *

**

Compensation

"Squall." Rinoa called out to the brunette sitting on the other side of the couch.

"Yeah?" Squall replied looking up from his reading book.

"You should get a smaller gunblade." She said, pressing her lips together trying hard to hold in her laughter.

"Why?" He asked curiously, lowering his book.

"Because people might think with such a big weapon, you're compensating for something." She giggled hysterically in reply.

Squall just looked at her with an expression of stupidity.

"You're an idiot." He rolled his eyes and went back to reading.

**

* * *

**

*Hides face in shame*

**I think it's safe to say this is one of my poorer works! So sorry for breaking any barriers. :P**

**Read and review all you want, i'm taking this down next update! :P**


	8. Happiness

**Erm, so I REALLY like Black Forest Gateau and a conversation I had with a friend about 'happiness' sorta inspired this. And before you assume, no not a _boyfriend_ :P**

**

* * *

**

Happiness

Rinoa licked her index finger before swallowing her last bite of black forest gateau and putting her saucer down on the coffee table in front of her.

Picking up a cushion from beside her, she placed it onto Squall's lap and lay her head down on it. With her knees up in the air, she adjusted her short dress to cover as much of her legs as she could and looked up to Squall's face as he placed his own plate on the table, albeit a bit awkwardly.

"I want another piece." Rinoa giggled expecting the brunette's rolling eyes any minutes.

"You had your piece and I gave you half of mine." Squall's exasperated reply came out.

Laughing, Rinoa put her hand to his cheek feeling the stubble of his facial hair.

"I wanted you to buy two boxes." She said referring to the dessert she had scoffed a second ago. "One for me and one to share with you."

"They only had one left, unless you wanted pavlova." Squall responded.

"Eww, I hate pavlova." Rinoa pulled a disgusted face. "I like black forest gateau, just eating it makes me all warm and happy." She beamed at him from his lap.

Looking down into her chocolate brown eyes Squall let the smallest of smiles run across his face.

"Well you know what they say, happiness comes in three;" Squall lowered his head towards Rinoa's lips, "Ice-cream, toasted cheese-"

"Ooh, toasted cheese. I haven't had that in years." Rinoa interrupted. "I think the last time I ate it was on a cold winter day in Deling. It had snowed that day and there was like nothing in the fridge apart from some bread and a small square wad of cheese."

"Hm." Squall replied and sat back up.

"Back then Dad and I got along, I remember the staff had all gone home, Walter was due back with the shopping so Dad and I had to make do with what we had. It wasn't much, but as we sat there in front of the fireplace and ate our toasted cheese, I never felt happier than being with him in that moment." She said sadly.

Sensing the sensitivity of the subject, Squall brushed back Rinoa's hair with his fingers, playing with the strands and feeling the silkiness under his fingers.

"He was still a father figure then, someone for me to look up to; he still had time for me and took notice of what was happening in my life." She said somewhat bitterly.

"He does now." Squall added.

"I know, but he kind of stopped when I turned sixteen." She said, her eyes looking deep into the ceiling as if she could see her father in front of her. "He wasn't even concerned when I started hanging around with Seifer; I think he thought I was going through a rebellious phase. So he ignored the sneaking out, the coming home at all hours."

"Wild girl, were you?" Squall couldn't help but comment. He wasn't jealous; Rinoa was carefree and impulsive, but she had respect for herself and Squall knew she wouldn't have gotten into anything that she would have regretted later on.

"If you call sitting with Zone's Mum watching Antique's Road show wild, then yeah I guess I was." Rinoa sighed. "Seifer was busy at Garden so he left before curfew."

"Well, he was a vigilant member of the Disciplinary Committee. But I doubt him breaking curfew was on the top of his list." Squall replied slightly in disbelief.

"No he didn't care about curfew. But after we talked through every plan we had about freeing Timber, the conversations kinda became dry." She replied frowning.

It had occurred to her many times, that maybe she wasn't always good at holding conversations. Marrying Squall had made that seem all the more believable; they hardly talked every second of the day. But then again, each longing look they cast on each other said much more than any word they both expressed.

"You can't always be fixated on the past, Rin." Squall advised her speaking from experience.

"I know." She smiled at him. "But you know, some times I just wish Dad and I hadn't gone through that, I think that's why it's so hard to just go back to normal with him now."

"True… but if you didn't go through all that, you wouldn't have met Seifer, which means you wouldn't have met Cid, and then you and I wouldn't have met." Squall smiled back at her. "Things happen for a reason, there's always some good that comes out of every misery. You just gotta roll with the punches."

Nodding to Squall, she closed her eyes and allowed him to keep brushing her hair back. It felt nice having his hand stroke through the softness of her hair, it made her feel warm and drowsy and she sighed in pleasure of it.

She opened her eyes and found him looking down at her attentively. Even though they had been together for a whole year, his craving for her still left her breathless and heart racing. She looked deep into his icy blue eyes making out all the flickers of the grey specks in his iris. It still amazed her how beautiful his eyes were and how calm and tranquil she felt by just looking into them.

For Rinoa, happiness came in three; Squall, Squall and Squall. In that order.

"Squall," She whispered to him as he lowered his head once more.

"Yeah?" He whispered back as their nose brushed against each other.

"I want more gateau." Rinoa whined.

"Aaah." Squall breathed against her. Rolling his eyes he pulled his head back as she jumped up and sat down on his lap wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "You just ruined a perfectly good moment, but whatever makes you happy."

"You make me happy!" Rinoa chirped.

"You sure about that, Princess? I think desserts come first on your list." Squall retorted bitterly and patted her thighs as indication for her to get off.

Following him into the kitchen, Rinoa skipped along behind him and hopped onto the countertop as Squall cut her another slice of cake.

"I eat cake for the yummy taste. You make me happy, I don't need anything else." She replied cutely as he handed her the creamy treat.

"Sure, you say I'm the only thing you need now and the next thing I know you'll be asking for a Chocobo." Squall rolled his eyes.

Rinoa eyes immediately widened as an idea came to her mind.

"You're not getting a Chocobo." Squall sternly pointed a dessert fork at her.

"Oh c'mon Squall! It will be fun; we can start our own Chocobo farm and rear them!" She excitedly cried.

Squall just shook his head and leant against the wall as Rinoa took three huge bites and finished her cake.

"All gone!" She cried and showed him the empty saucer.

Squall just breathed a chuckle and watched as Rinoa washed her dishes. She was strange at the least; mad on desserts without a thought of people calling her greedy, had a bizarre sense of humour and even weirder future plans for the both of them. _Chocobo farm._ He thought to himself shaking his head.

* * *

Night time and Squall and Rinoa lay in bed covered in pitch blackness. Her head nestled in between the crane of Squall's neck she gentle caressed his arm, feeling both the smooth toned muscled skin and the softness of his cotton t-shirt.

"I meant what I said before." Rinoa spoke breaking the long silence between them since they had lain down.

"What?" Squall asked, not knowing whether she was talking about the gateau or the Chocobo farm.

"I'm the happiest when I'm with you." She said seriously.

He tightened his grip on her and sniffed her hair in affection.

"Feeling's mutual." He replied with the same earnestness.

"Hey Squall." She responded to his reply.

"Yeah." He answered as Rinoa lifted her head from his shoulder and rested it on her spread out hands on top his chest. She faced him directly and tried to make out the features of his face in the darkness, though as hard as it was with the huge shadows cast over their bed.

"You said happiness came in three; Ice-cream, toasted cheese and you didn't say the third." She said.

"You mean, you interrupted me before I could say the third." Squall retorted.

"Sorry." Rinoa grinned against him.

"Ice-cream, toasted cheese," He finally answered while playing with her hair again, "and love." He said determinedly.

She smiled at him with genuine happiness. A year ago and she'd never have imagined such a conversation with Squall, nor him giving an honest answer to what made him happy, if such a thing existed. She felt good that she shared a part of his happiness, but more elated that she was one third of it.

"It's a good thing we got all three of those in stock." She replied.

"Sure is." He agreed.

"Mmm, I love gateau." Rinoa said dreamily.

Squall groaned again and grabbed a pillow from behind him smacking her with it.

"You and your gateau." He said with pretend aggression.

They tackled each other on the bed, hitting each other with their pillows, wrestling to get on top of each other for better aim and laughing from their childish antics. Managing to get her pinned onto the bed Squall tickled Rinoa's sides vigorously causing her to cackle in laughter and kick out in reaction. Not liking the painful physical contact Squall jumped up from the bed and looked at her mischievously.

"I'm going to go finish off that gateau!" He said evilly and ran out of the room.

"No!" Rinoa screamed behind him. "Squall that's mine! You can't have it…" She continued to cry as she ran down the stairs after him. "Squall don't eat it all… I'll share it with you…"

**

* * *

**

**I love gateau :)**


	9. Calm

**Enjoy ;)**

**

* * *

**

Calm

Rinoa slid Squall's arm from across her waist, rolled over him and off the bed, while the brunette let out a heartfelt yawn. Taking his brown shirt off the floor, she popped it through her head and slipped on her blue tartan shorts.

"Do you want something to eat before you shower?" She asked while brushing her fingers through her hair.

"Yeah." He replied whilst still lying on the bed.

"I'll make you a sandwich, c'mon." She said and led the way downstairs.

Once in the kitchen Rinoa took our all the necessary items, bread, salami, lettuce, cucumber, mayo, mustard, ketchup. Squall walked in shirtless and took a seat on the breakfast bar watching Rinoa at work.

It wasn't a difficult task to make a sandwich, but it was while she was trying to squirt the ketchup out that the red sauce wasn't giving way. Using her force she pressed the plastic bottle hard, squirting an enormous amount of ketchup onto the bread and splattering quite a bit on her t-shirt.

She looked at the brunette sheepishly.

"Sorry, I got all over your shirt." She apologetically confessed. "I'll wash it."

Squall merely sighed and nodded his head.

* * *

Squall was busy working in the office sorting out the financial proposal forms for the recent Garden extension Cid was requesting. A phone call startled him out of his deep thoughts and he picked up the receiver after the second ring.

"Hello." He spoke deeply.

"Squall?" Rinoa's sweet voice came through the other end.

"What's up, Rin?" He asked.

"Oh er, well you know how you said I could borrow your car?" She answered receiving a confirmatory grunt from him. "Well, I was driving down the town and I parked on the slope outside the hotel because there were no other parking spaces but the road is downhill and I kinda forgot that you said to lock the wheels and because it was downhill it kinda started rolling and then well I didn't realise until a man pointed it out but by then it was too late and it sorta kinda hit a street lamp."

Squall sighed heavily before replying.

"Were you hurt?" He asked.

"No, I wasn't in the car." Her voice came back sympathetic.

"I'll be there in a bit." He replied before putting down the phone.

"Ah Squall!" Rinoa quickly tried getting his attention.

"Hm?" He asked putting the receiver back to his ear.

"Er, after it hit the street lamp, the car was stationary. But then this van was following down the same road and… the back got a bit totalled." She whined.

Squall just sighed.

* * *

"Squall, your jacket is a bit dusty." Rinoa said inspecting the fur collar of Squall's black leather jacket as small pieces of flint wood and saw dust fell to the floor.

"Yeah, the last mission required some heavy labouring." Squall explained rolling his eyes.

"I'll give it clean." Rinoa offered taking Squall's jacket into the laundry room.

"It's alright, Rin. I'll take it to the dry cleaners." He answered absentmindedly as he flipped through the TV channels.

"I don't mind doing it, sweetie." Rinoa said cutely.

Half an hour later and Rinoa unloaded the washing, getting a sick feeling in her gut instantly.

"Oh crap!" She whispered loudly.

"What's wrong?" Squall asked from the couch.

"Oh Squall." She moaned while holding up his black jacket now damp with soap water with half the fur completely shredded off. "I think I put it in the wrong setting."

Squall bit his lip, remaining calm and sighed.

"I'm sorry." Rinoa pouted apologetically.

"It's fine. I've meaning to chuck it out." He lied to make her feel better.

She smiled back at him sweetly and walked over to plop a kiss on his cheek.

Squall returned to the TV, taking a deep breath and sighing. It was his favourite article of clothing and she'd just made mince meat of the collar.

"Oh no." Rinoa groaned holding up her red bra and several of Squall's now pink shirts.

* * *

"What you doing, Squall?" Rinoa asked sweetly. _Pop._

She walked behind him as he sat on his computer chair and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Paper work." Squall replied to Rinoa as she kissed the back of his head.

"How boring." She answered following by a loud pop. "You want some bubblegum?" She asked.

"No, I'm ok." He replied with amusement.

He hadn't had bubblegum since is was kid. But the smell of the sweet strawberry was salivating his mouth with a sweet tangy taste. Not to mention Rinoa's constant bubble popping was distracting him from his work.

She tightened her grip on him and leant in a bit forward, trying to peek a look over the top of his head.

"So, what's the paper work about?" She asked making conversation.

"It's a proposal for the shareholders, building an extension for Garden." He answered.

_Pop._

"Cool, what are you thinking of adding into Garden?" Rinoa chewed loudly.

"Cid reckons a gym would be a good asset along with the training centre. He also wants a bigger cafeteria to accommodate the increasing numbers of students that will be attending in the up coming year." He replied while scribbling small notes at the corners of the each page.

"A gym would be good." _Pop._ "You could make extra money by letting outside people use the facilities." _Pop._ Rinoa suggested her chin vibrating on Squall's head.

"No, the facilities at Garden are solely for students and SeeDs." Squall explained.

"Yeah but-Oh!" Rinoa cried.

"What?" Squall turned his head to look at the raven head.

"No Squall, don't move." She cried again trying to pull his head back.

"Why?" He asked moving his head away from her.

"I just… got gum… on your hair." She cheekily answered moving her hand and trying to tug it out.

Squall sighed, got up off his chair and walked to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later and a handful of gelled down hair, the newly cut lock stuck up high on Squall's head.

"You can hardly notice it." Rinoa tried being sympathetic while pressing down on her lips.

"Rinoa you'd have to be blind not to notice this." Squall replied slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry." Rinoa said sweetly putting a hand to Squall's back guiltily.

"It's fine." He sighed.

"Wow, you're really calm, I'd go nuts if someone dropped gum into my hair." Rinoa truthfully spoke.

"Not the end of the world." He retorted and looked away from the mirror.

"No it's not. But it's still something to get upset about. But you're so calm." She said quite astonished.

In fact Squall had been calm through ever little misdemeanour and slip up Rinoa had made.

"I'm a calm person." He replied looking at her seriously. "It'd take an apocalypse to freak me out."

Rinoa giggled at that, hugging him and then trying feeble attemps to keep the pointed lock of Squall's hair down.

* * *

"Squall… Squall… Squaaall!" Rinoa cried from the bathroom.

"Yeah!" Squall yelled back from the bedroom.

"Where'd you put my shampoo?" She asked while looking through the bathroom cabinet.

"In the cabinet." He replied.

"It's not here." She moaned.

"Look on the top shelf." He said while dressing himself.

"No, it's not here." She called back.

"Rinoa, I just saw a bottle on the top."

"Well it's not here now." She whined.

He grunted and quickly pulled his shirt on. They'd slept in. Well they hadn't, but that was to be their excuse. But if they didn't get a move on then they'd be very late for Squall's presentation and the excuse would be hardly believable.

"Rinoa, I know its on the top shelf, I just saw it. A complete full bottle." He replied while grabbing his socks and walking towards the bathroom.

"Where?" Rinoa asked as he walked in and pointed to the open cabinet.

"There!" He said and took down the pink bottle.

"Squall you idiot, that's conditioner I already saw that!" She moaned. "Where's the other bottle!" She asked her eyes wide, agitation growing.

"Oh, that I chucked it out." He answered while looking at the conditioner bottle with interest.

"Why!" She screamed at him.

"It was finished. I used the last bit." He replied in defence.

"Argh!" Rinoa sighed. "What am I suppose to use now?" She cried folding her arms expectantly.

"Just use this, we're going to be late." He said and handed her the bottle.

"No that's conditioner, you cant use that to wash your hair!" She retorted and pushed his hand back.

"We're going to be late." Squall warned her.

"I can't go to the presentation with my hair all sweaty!" She cried.

"Ah, just use this." He tried handing her the conditioner bottle again but failed.

"That's conditioner!" She yelled.

"Rinoa it doesn't matter, we're going to be late just use it."

"No! You used my shampoo and now I don't have anything to clean my hair with. You always do this, use my stuff and don't replace it. I'm not going!" She huffed and walked back to the bedroom.

Squall tightened the grip on the conditioner bottle and sighed.

"Rin, please!" He begged walking back in. "You have to come."

"Squall, I'm not even clean." She whined.

"No one will notice." He tried reassuring her.

"Yes, they will." She whined again and pulled her legs up on the bed.

Sighing Squall lowered himself to her and looked into her brown orbs.

"Please Rin, I can't do this without you, I need you there to be my pillar of support. No one else makes me feel calm, I don't think I can speak in front of so many people without knowing you're there to make it easy." He said with earnestness.

"Aww, Squall." She said putting a hand on his cheek her face melting into a smile.

"So you'll come?" He asked with pleading and hopeful eyes.

"Sure I'll come." She said pecking him on the lips and hurrying into the bathroom with the conditioner in hand.

"Sucker." Squall chuckled to himself.

"What was that?" Rinoa asked.

"Oh, nothing, I-I love you." Squall quickly recovered.

"Aww, I love you too." Rinoa said grinning, taking a step towards him.

"Quickly, we're going to be late." Squall ushered back into the bathroom.

With the door to the bathroom closed, Squall heard the sound of the shower going and Rinoa's gentle humming. He was a very calm person indeed, hardly ever stressed out over something so futile and arbitrary.

It would take an apocalypse to stress Squall out, but Rinoa was sure hurrying up that process.

**

* * *

**

Yes, there is a difference between shampoo and conditioner.


	10. Flight

**Author's Notes: **Been a while huh? Kinda lost inspiration for this after the last one. Had to actually get on a plane and go to Egypt in order to have this idea pop into my head :P

Would say I have more to come, but honestly the only thing I can think of to add to the Mini's would be a continuation of this scenario. Specifically at the resort. But, I don't have any solid plans. I'll think about it and see if I can come up with anything. If not, I shall have this set to complete, makes sense now that it's at ten chapters.

Thanks for the reviews and really glad you guys stuck with me for so long. Enjoy! :)

* * *

**Flight**

It wasn't very often that Squall and Rinoa travelled alone together. What with being busy with Garden and well, being a sorceress who pretty much lounged in the dorms and occasionally took part in a couple of battles, they didn't have much time alone together. This weekend was to be different.

After much pestering and moaning, Rinoa finally succeeding in getting the Commander out of Garden and in a weekend of secluded romance. Well, not entirely secluded. The plan was to visit a newly built Centrian resort away from Garden and any Garden associations. For once they were not Squall and Rinoa from Balamb Garden; they were Squall and Rinoa, a young couple looking to enjoy a private weekend away like any other normal couple.

The plan was easy enough; Squall had, as usual, written out a detailed itenary of their travel plans there and back. Starting with a flight from Balamb Airport to the newly built Odin Airstation just outside of Odin's tower. From there they were to hire a car and purchase a couple of extra fuel in case they decided on an extra excursion. The resort had both public and private pools, Jacuzzis, swimming pools, spa and sauna. Entertainment was as usual an all orchestra band, dancing, home entertainment system in the suites and even a mini cinema with new releases.

A weekend away for normal couples that honestly was something both were longing and looking forward to. However, Squall was travelling with Rinoa, and no matter how much either would try, Rinoa wasn't normal.

"Rin," Squall tutted irritably.

"Huh?"

"Stop moving; you'll annoy the people behind us," he warned in a harsh whisper.

Rinoa fidgeted in her seat, pressing a button on her arm rest and trying in vain to make her seat recline further than it allowed. Restraint was not in Rinoa's vocabulary. She wanted the back rest to lean further back as did the ones in Business Class, but she was forgetting one very small point. They weren't in Business Class; they weren't flying on business matters and had booked into normal economy seats to be as 'normal' as can be. Unfortunately for her, her seat was standard and creaked every time she tried to push it further back.

"Stop it!" Squall finally reprimanded after hearing the man behind Rinoa's seat huff for the tenth time.

Rinoa sulked in her seat, folding her arms and sticking her tongue out at him. Ignoring her immature behaviour, Squall rested his own back against the seat and allowed his body to relax comfortably.

Bored that her seat adjustment activity was put to an end, Rinoa started browsing at the buttons displayed on her arm rest. The top half of it was controls for the entertainment screen attached to back of the seat in front of her. The bottom part of the buttons was controls for lights, AC and a button to call for assistance from the cabin crew.

Not wanting to disturb the cabin crew just yet, Rinoa started playing around, switching the lights above her head on, then switching them off. They seemed to be working well; the bulbs worked like new as bright, white light shone down on her and Squall. The air condition was cold and sent chills down her arms as soon as she turned it on.

How bright was the light again? Switching it on Rinoa looked back up before turning it off. She did this a couple of times, watching the round bulb's light glow on and off, anticipating the millisecond time length it took for the light to come on after she had just pressed the button.

She was about to turn the lights on again when she felt a hand clamp down over hers. Looking to her right she met with Squall's irritated glare.

"Enough."

Grunting at her, Squall turned back to face the back of the seat in front of him and closed his eyes. Had he known Rinoa would be this bored, not mention annoying he would have flew with a concord, at least that way they'd be off the plane faster.

Rinoa huffed and turned to the window beside her, she had spent the lift off time staring out at the clouds, watching the sky engulf around them and looking at how small the houses below had become. Now all that surrounded their aeroplane was a blanket of white clouds that wasn't as interesting.

Turning her entertainment system on, the Sorceress started to sift through the channels to find something decent to watch. The comedy section was all bland Dollet comedy which didn't interest her, the films were all things she had either seen before or literally had no basis nor appeal. The cartoons in the kids section was even worse, she couldn't comprehend how kids found it entertaining and humorous watching an animated series of two characters, Minotaur and a Cockatrice with their bizarre human parents. Other than the stupid fact that the cow and chicken like characters had human beings as parents, how on earth could they be siblings? That was as stupid as the next cartoon, _I Am Wendigo_.

Sports wasn't something she was that into, sure she had been a fan of the MogMog Moogles before Trabia Garden was destroyed, and she had some interest when G-Garden played ice hockey once in a while, but watching an hour long documentary on the best sports profiles from twenty years before she was born served no purpose.

Turning off the system Rinoa sighed again. Looking at Squall she observed how he clamped his eyes shut, breathing evenly as he tried to ignore her actions around him. It was kind of hard not to notice Rinoa. Though he loved her dearly, sometimes she had a knack of getting on his worst nerves.

He had agreed to a certain amount of normalcy, just to explore their relationship a bit more. They had travelled in time, seen sorceresses of many kinds that most wouldn't even dream of. Their life was far from normal so this was a nice and different experience he had hoped to share with her.

But oh no, Rinoa had a way of making Squall wish that they hadn't taken a normal route. In fact, as he sat there listening to Rinoa shuffle in her seat, take out every magazine provided for their journey and sift through each noisy page, rock in her seat since she clearly couldn't sit still and thus inevitably cause his seat to stir, he had wished they had taken the Ragnarok instead. At least that way he could have retired to any of the secluded rooms to get away from her bother. And if she followed him, well he was sure there were some Propagators he could find roaming around, maybe leaving Rinoa locked up in a room with one of them wouldn't be so bad, though the Propagator would probably die of sheer irritation.

Finally, Squall had enough! Rinoa obviously was not going to sit still; she obviously couldn't just enjoy and/or endure the ride by sleeping a good few hours of their flight before dinner was served. She obviously wasn't smart enough to pack a book with her knowing she was on a seven hour flight to a foreign country that would undoubtedly bore her at one point.

Opening his eyes, he was about to look at Rinoa and scold her again when his sights fell on the information panel above his lane. The lights indicated the seat belt sign and the vacancy of the toilet were both turned off. This meant that they both could get off their seats. This meant that the toilets were free. This meant that they could both get off their seats and head to the vacant toilets.

Smirking to himself, Squall turned to Rinoa and touched her arm. Looking at him with a frown, as she expected him to tell her off once again, Rinoa was surprised to see a smirk plastered across his face.

"Huh?" she asked in confusion.

"Er, the toilets are free," Squall playfully stated as he indicated with his eyes to the sign above them.

"Oh, I don't need to go." Rinoa looked at the lights before looking back at Squall's grin which still hadn't disappeared.

"That's not what I meant." Squall grinned harder. "Have you ever heard of the Mile High Club?"

Rinoa's eyes immediately widened as did a toothy grin. Squall only chuckled in response and bit down on his bottom lip, quickly looking around as if someone was in earshot.

"Do you want to?" he asked cheekily.

In excitement, Rinoa popped her head over their row to look out for any loitering cabin crew. Her heart was pounding in her chest at the mention of something this exciting and risky, and even more, Squall was the one to initiate it. Naturally, her behaviour was rubbing off on him, and rightly so!

Giving him a seductive grin she asked, "How?"

"You go in first, wait about ten minutes and then I'll come after. I'll make three quick knocks so you know it's me." Squall lowered his head towards her so his voice was a whisper.

"Make it four so I know it's definitely you." Rinoa nodded her head and stood up.

Acting as natural as she could, she waited for Squall to unbuckle his belt and step aside for her to pass. As she stepped past his seat and swayed her hips to emerge onto the footpath, she grabbed his hand and gave it a nervous squeeze.

Squall watched as Rinoa, darted past the row of seats, looking back at him teasingly and also looking out for any cabin crew that caught on to their plans. Finally reaching the toilet door, Rinoa slid it open and stepped into the narrow cubicle, before shutting the door and locking it.

Ten minutes and Squall would come knocking on the door, and then they could really have some fun. Grinning to herself like mad, Rinoa looked in the mirror and fixed her hair, using her fingers to brush away any strands. Readjusting her top, she pushed her bra up to enhance her cleavage more. Another nine minutes and he'd be joining her, she couldn't wait.

Squall on the other hand watched as Rinoa entered the toilet cubicle and shut the door. Once he could make out the small green light turn red, he looked at the man sitting behind Rinoa.

"You got about thirty minutes give or take, I'd suggest a bit of shut eye or you won't be getting any when she returns," Squall advised as he lowered himself into his seat.

"Nice one, mate." The man fluffed his pillow and closed his eyes, thankful that the raven haired girl was gone.

Squalls secured his belt and pressing the small button on his armchair, he allowed the seat to recline before pulling the grey comforter provided over his body. Rinoa would wait in the toilet in anticipation and excitement. Without a watch, her ten minutes would drag to thirty. He wasted no time in using every minute she was away to finally do something normal - relax.

_Mile High Club? As if._

* * *

**Footnote:** Blue e-Skittles to anyone who can guess the cartoon I was referring to. The one about the Minotaur and Cockatrice :P (Yeah, totally stole the idea off Ashbear)


	11. Homophones

** ~:~"~:~ Author Notes: **Happy Squall day everyone!** ~:~"~:~**

* * *

**Homophones**

Rinoa looked up at the clock hanging above the kitchen stove as the long hand passed down half past seven, adding another fifteen minutes to Squall's delay. Since the misunderstanding between them after the incident with his knee back in the Training Centre, they both had become somewhat relaxed with their time keeping. Rinoa made sure not to jump into panic mode every time he didn't call if he was running late. She couldn't fault herself entirely, if it wasn't shards of ice, Galbadian soldiers, or Time Compression itself, it was a misplaced landing that dislocated his knee. Somehow the Commander always found himself in a spot of physical bother.

In some ways his late arrival home was a blessing. She had spent a bit too long in the bath, pampering herself for what seemed to be an overdue therapy session she hadn't taken since Ultimecia. It was amazing and surreal to think that it was only four years ago that they were sleeping it rough, fighting monsters, travelling into time and living it large with Omega Weapon. Yet now, life had pretty much become quite 'normal' it was almost abnormal.

It wasn't like the world was dramatically saved from every evil being with the slaughtering of one Sorceress. There were still criminals lurking about, monsters that needed to be slain and Political figures requiring protection. SeeD was still being hired, but not Miss Heartilly herself.

Rinoa never was trained nor intentionally destined for battle. Her short time with the Forest Owls was somewhat preparation for fighting along SeeD, but even that wasn't enough to tempt her to stay at Garden and follow orders without questioning. Such life just wasn't for Rinoa Heartilly.

So it was only natural that the girl from Deling City would revert to her old ways and let those trained and fully acquainted in battle clean up the aftermath.

Still, though she missed her younger freedom-fighting days, there was a calm bliss in having to only worry about paying bills on time (not like that was an issue what with Squall's salary and all), walking Angelo and making sure not to blow up the kitchen when she couldn't find the matchsticks. Sorcery did have its highlights.

Just as she was cutting up some fresh parsley, Rinoa heard the front door unlock and someone walk in.

"Is that you?" she asked loud enough for the intruder to hear from the hallway.

"Yeah," Squall's voice replied back. "I tried calling you, but my battery died."

Squall walked into the kitchen, lightly pecking Rinoa's cheek before picking up a glass tumbler from the dish rack and filling it with water.

"I told you to charge it."

"I did." Squall paused from drinking his water and leaned against the counter. "I was on the phone to Laguna for like twenty minutes when Selphie walks in and asks if she could speak to him. I handed it over expecting a quick hello, the next thing I know she rinsed the entire battery."

"Wow. Selphie really can't get enough of Laguna." Rinoa chuckled, walking to the stove and adding the chopped herbs into the bubbling pot.

"I know. I find it very worrisome that someone of her age would have a crush on someone of Laguna's." Squall frowned in distaste.

Rinoa smirked, cocking her eyebrow before remarking, "You sure it's not just because she has a crush on your dad?"

Squall rolled his eyes and finished his drink. It did have a whole lot more to do with the unruly fact of his relation to the Estharian President. Even with the age difference, he couldn't fathom how anyone could talk to Laguna longer than necessary let alone dedicate an entire section of a website in honour of the man. Nevertheless, if anyone was more eccentric than Laguna, it was definitely Selphie.

"Anyway, though I can blame Selphie all I want for my lack of communication, it was actually Irvine who made me late."

"Irvine?" Rinoa asked curiously.

"Yeah, I was on my way home when I bumped into him outside the car park. He'd been telling me of this pawn shop that just opened up and he wanted me to go with him to check it out," Squall casually explained, walking over to the dining table and taking off his coat before hanging it over the chair's backrest.

Rinoa stood still, frowning at Squall before asking, "…and did you?"

"Yeah, he said it was cheaper than the usual place I go to, so I went to take a look myself." Squall sat down, absentmindedly picked up an old copy of Weapon's Monthly and started skimming through the pages.

"I'm sorry, you have a _usual place_?" Rinoa asked in utter confusion.

"A place on Redbrick Grove, but it's not as fancy as this new place," Squall muttered, still consumed with his magazine.

"Oh, so this new porn shop is much fancier, huh?" Rinoa angrily remarked.

"Yeah, they have better stock, a lot more leather and good deals too," Squall answered.

"Oh really." Rinoa, eyes wide, stood with her hands on her hips. "What are the _really good deals _then?"

Squall shrugged, not exactly remembering the specifics, he just remembered that the bullets for his Lionheart were cheaper. Besides, he was more interested in admiring the glossy photo of Flame Saber, how he missed that gunblade. Lionheart did have its moments, but there was nothing more awesome than hacking into Monsters and setting them on fire at the same time.

Squall smirked to himself just thinking of the memory before looking up at Rinoa's furious expression. Instantly his own expression changed into one of alarm as he realised his error in ignoring her. Rinoa didn't take too kindly when she found herself talking to a wall.

"What?" Squall asked and immediately regretted it when Rinoa scowled at him.

"What do you mean _what_? You're telling me that you're home late because Irvine dragged you to a porn shop and you didn't even resist?"

"Why would I? He's been asking me to accompany him for a while now and I promised him. Besides, I'm only half an hour late; I didn't think you'd mind." Squall tried being apologetic, but in all honestly he didn't see why it was such a problem.

"I wouldn't mind? What makes you think I wouldn't mind!" Rinoa's voice rose in anger. "Here I am being the perfect domestic wife, cooking, cleaning, and being at home when you walk in through the door and all the while you've been popping into porn shops with Irvine!"

"Why's that a problem?" Squall asked completely baffled. Seeing Rinoa grip her wooden spoon tighter, Squall almost wished he hadn't asked. Maybe it was something to do with Irvine and he hadn't been listening. The Commander tried to rack his brain thinking back to past conversations with Irvine's involvement. Did Rinoa and Irvine have some argument and Squall somehow promised not to go any where near the Sharpshooter?

"Of course it's a problem! Why wouldn't it be a problem!" Rinoa bellowed. "Am I not enough for you?"

"You are!" Squall answered quickly, still amazed at Rinoa's sudden change of behaviour. Getting off his chair, he carefully approached her as she continued to shout at him.

"Well I'm obviously not if you need to head off in search of new porn shops with Irvine."

"Look Rinoa I'm sorry, I didn't know you'd be upset about this." Squall held up his hands in mock surrender, trying to think of how to cheer her up or at least lessen her irritation towards him. "Listen, if you want, next time I head down to the pawn shop you can come with me?"

If Rinoa's eyes weren't wide enough, they had just gotten a heck wider. Gritting her teeth at him, she restrained herself from blurting out a few obscenities before opting for a more civil approach.

"Why on earth would I step into a store like that?" she asked disgustedly.

Taken slightly aback by her conceitedness, Squall scoffed, "C'mon Rinoa, there's nothing wrong with pawn shops. Everyone has to make a living, not every can afford to shop in the luxury Deling high streets." Squall folded his arms and frowned at Rinoa disdainfully. This was the first time they had let culture and class clash with their relationship. Squall had always believed that though they had polar opposite upbringings, somehow it would never be a problem. Today was a first.

"Excuse me, but just because Deling City doesn't have shops like that," Rinoa pulled a face of disgust before continuing, "doesn't mean everyone is a rich snob. We just have self-respect."

"Self-respect? What the hell does respect have to do with pawn shops?"

"Have you gone mad? What kind of person would have no shame in walking into a porn shop in bloody daylight!"

"Erm, people that are short of money and need a quick fix?" Squall answered, ignoring that her question was rhetorical. Seriously, sometimes Rinoa really could be stuck up.

"Quick fix?" Rinoa slammed down the wooden spoon in her hand onto the counter top. "What you have at home isn't enough?"

"I-I don't understand you. I really don't see this weird attitude with exchanging old stuff for something new. Or even getting rid of some of my old things for a few extra gil." Squall shook his head disappointedly.

"A few extra gil? Like you need it," Rinoa sarcastically replied. "And I don't understand you. God, you sicken me!"

Turning away from him, she picked up her spoon and began stirring her pasta sauce, biting on her bottom lip as it quivered. She couldn't believe how normal and shameless Squall was being about this entire situation. Porn shops? She couldn't believe it. How on earth did she never stumble upon one of his 'old stuff'. That darn Irvine, she should have sorted him out when he left that magazine for them at FH!

"Rinoa I'm sorry for being late, but to be honest I'm completely baffled by your attitude." Squall stood still watching as Rinoa looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "I never thought your life as the General's daughter would ever affect our relationship, but seriously, this is kinda low."

"Low? My attitude is low?" Rinoa asked in perplex. "You go into a porn shop and I'm the one that is acting low?"

Squall shrugged his shoulders, still utterly puzzled by her stance.

"Tell me Squall, when you go into these shops to get your quick fixes don't you ever think of how I'd feel?"

"Why would I?" Rinoa's eyes had at this point brimmed with tears as the harsh words seeped in. Rubbing the back of her hand against her cheek she wiped away her tears. Squall grimaced, pulling at her hands until she relented and caved into his chest. Brushing down her hair, he tried soothingly persuading her opinion, "Rin, it's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal! You're going to porn shops and buying dirty magazines, and probably watching dirty movies-"

"What!" Squall placed his hands on Rinoa's shoulders and pushed her back an arm's length away. Looking into her tear stained cheeks, a light bulb clicked and he realised where exactly their conversation had differed.

"The hell, Rinoa! Pawn shop, not Porn shop. P-A-W-N."

"Huh?" Rinoa grunted, sniffing her tears away and staring doe-eyed at Squall.

"I went to a PAWN shop. A shop where you pawn your old things, equipment, accessories, sometimes even jewellery for other items, sometimes even gil," Squall explained rolling his eyes. Now it made sense why she was being so distasteful about it.

"Oh… I thought you went-"

"I know where you thought I went, I'm actually quite offended!" Squall looked at Rinoa sorrowfully. He didn't know what was worse, the feeling he had before thinking Rinoa looked down at pawn shops, or the feeling he had now knowing Rinoa thought he was capable of doing such a lewd thing.

"Oh…" Rinoa paused in her excuse looking around the kitchen as if that would somehow help her plea. "I don't know. It's just the way you said it, and… you said you went with Irvine so I just put two and two together."

Giving him a cheeky grin, Rinoa leaned into Squall as he smirk at her.

"Irvine and porn do make a believable couple…"

"Sorry," Rinoa sweetly cooed.

Lightly chuckling to himself, Squall bent his head down and looked at her earnestly, "Don't worry about it. Just know in future, I would never, ever step into such a store, no matter how much Irvine pesters."

"That's good to know." Rinoa cuddled closer to Squall, giggling at herself and feeling very relieved that her thoughts were far worse than the truth. In all honestly, she actually believed Squall would uncharacteristically play a prank on her. She couldn't believe he would ever do something so… Irvine-esque.

"I think your sauce is overdone." Squall commented beside her as he looked into the bubbling pot.

"Yeah, lemme plate this up." Rinoa moved away, turning the stove off and grabbing some plates off the dish rack. "Where'd you want to eat?"

"Erm, let's eat and watch a movie or something," Squall suggested, filling up two glass tumblers with fresh water.

"Cool. What do you want to watch?"

"Er… how about The Girl Next Door, the movie?" Squall sniggered to himself, looking at Rinoa as she glared at him with venom. "Too early for jokes?"

"Not unless you want this sauce poured over your head," she threatened, jabbing him in the ribs playfully.

Bending down, the Commander quickly planted a kiss on her neck as Rinoa continued plating their food.

"So Selphie and Laguna, how long before she leaves Irvine?"

"I want to say a year… but I'm hoping it'll be sooner…"

* * *

**Author Notes: **Haha, I had this idea since I first wrote the Mini's, I really don't know why I didn't write it sooner. A couple of years ago my sister and I nearly had this convo. She mentioned her husband was going to go to a pawn shop to trade in some jewellery or something, and my face was like o_O. Thankfully, my sister is smarter than Squall and Rinoa and quickly put my misunderstanding aright.

Not to be mean or anything, but for those of you who don't know, Homophones aren't gay calling devices... lol. Homophones are words that are spelled differently (and have different meanings) but sound similar. Like 'red' and 'read', or 'there and 'their' or even 'piece' and 'peace'.

Oh and the bit about Rinoa and SeeD I know doesn't really have a place in this oneshot, but there are a couple of staunch FF8 fans who can't see past the themes of the Mini's and demand explanation for post-Ultimecia incidents. I thought a brief explanation was in order, but this won't be done everytime. Just understand that the Mini's are oneshots that revolve around Squall and Rinoa in fluffy yet funny circumstances. That is all they are supposed to be. If you like it, cool. If you don't agree, well that's okay too. :)


End file.
